What’s on: Putting on the glitz, art meets science
InDaily’s hit list of events and shows over the weekend and week ahead, including Cabaret Festival divas and doyens, a Naughty act at La Boheme, the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize show, and talking arts at the State Library.
Cabaret diva Miss Frisky will perform with Glorious Misfits and also at the Cab Fest Backstage Club.
Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Adelaide Cabaret Festival kicks off tonight with a two-week program featuring 52 performances from local and international artists. Read artistic director Ali McGregor’s top six performances here and InDaily’s interviews with some of the festival’s headline acts here. Our opening-week picks with tix still available include:
Variety Gala
Ali McGregor will lead a “carnival of cabaret” featuring Australian and international performers from across the festival as part of the always-popular and glitzy Variety Gala, which offers a kind of tasting plate of what’s to come. It’s on tonight at the Festival Theatre.
Cat Empire
McGregor predicts this show will be “off-the-hook great” – and going by previous Cat Empire gigs, we’re inclined to agree. Famous for their big live shows and signature horn section, Cat Empire will be joined by a guest line up of cabaret artists for this one-night-only performance on Sunday at the Festival Theatre.
Lea DeLaria
If you’re familiar with Lea DeLaria only from her role as “Big Boo” on the hit Netflix prison drama Orange is the New Black, then you’re in for a surprise at this show on Monday at the Festival Theatre. DeLaria is also a talented jazz singer whose most recent album featured jazz arrangements of David Bowie songs. But be warned: the show will include her no-holds-barred brand of comedy (you can get a taste of that in this InDaily interview).
Cabaret Fringe
New York cabaret performer – and Cab Fringe headliner – Pamela Shaw will present her show Naughty at La Boheme this Saturday and Sunday. The show will feature songs from the likes of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Rickie Lee Jones and Amanda McBroom with a “pop, blues and contemporary Broadway” feel. Other festival highlights this weekend include Cabaret Collective, which features more than 100 Choo La La ladies taking to the Woodville Town Hall stage; I Want to Join the Circus, a “heart warming family show” that explores a child’s dream of being in the circus, and cabaret veteran Michael Wheatley. Cabaret Fringe continues until June 24 – view the full program here.
Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize
An installation view of finalists’ work in the 2018 Waterhouse Prize.
Finalist artworks from the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize are display at the South Australian Museum from today. The prize invites artists to present their perspectives on natural science and make a statement about the scientific issues facing the planet, with works across a broad range of media. This year’s open category winner was Metamorphosis by Canberra artist Erica Sercombe, while Hayley’s Lander’s The great forgetting won the emerging artist prize. The exhibition runs until August 5.See a photo gallery of finalists’ work here.
Creative arts symposium
This two-day event at the State Library explores how the creative arts have shaped our understanding of South Australian society and history during and after World War I. Beginning on Thursday, the program features presentations and panel discussions with academics and artists from the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, State Opera, State Theatre Company and Adelaide Cabaret Festival. It will end on a play reading by the State Theatre Company, commissioned by the Beyond the Stage project. View the full program here.
